Growing up an Exile
by Kossetsu Suru
Summary: Naruto is forced out of his village by the citizens themselves. The Kyuubi alters Naruto in a way that's never been seen. What is this all about Demon clans? Open pairings  leaning to FemHaku , Firstfic, Trained Naru
1. Prologue

**A/N:** So this is my first fic. Please feel free to criticize/flame all you want. I'm no pansy. I can take it all and then some. But please do R&R. It helps. It really does.

Now, this fic will start off probably cliched for a lot of you avid readers out there, but trust me when I say that it will soon take off in a totally different direction.

And no, I don't own Naruto either.

'_Thinking'_

"Speaking"

Techniques

'_**Beasts' thoughts'**_

"_**Beasts' telepathic speech"**_

"**Demonic voice/Beasts' voice"**

**Growing up an Exile**

**October 10****th**** - 4:30PM**

Uzumaki Naruto shivered in the cool breeze that came across the Hokage Monument, fearing what tonight's mob would attempt to do to him. Last year had been the worst of the past 3 years, far surpassing the other 2 in sheer brutality. They had come to the orphanage and beaten him, almost to death, before the ANBU stopped them. They then had hauled him off to one of the many alleyways in the city...

He shivered once again. _'Those villagers keep coming up with new ideas to torture me... I'm only 6 for crying out loud!'_ He let a long sigh out, already feeling depressed about the next few hours.

He had figured out since last year that, while it usually resulted in a far worse punishment, avoiding his room at the orphanage could perhaps let him escape the mob. Perhaps.

'_Perhaps I should just leave this village. It's not like anyone here would miss me besides Ero-jiji, and even then, he'd have less paperwork if I left.' _Naruto glanced out at the village gates yet again, just as he had for the past few hours, as he sat there on the Fourth's head and contemplated his life. _'I wouldn't be able to get out of the village anyways. __'The Eternal Chuunin' Kotetsu and Izumo would keep me inside the village, by Jiji's orders.'_ Curling up for a quick nap, Naruto quickly fell into a restless slumber.

**7:00PM**

"WHERE'S THE DEMON BRAT!"

"Find him now! We don't want him to escape!"

"Someone check the monument! He's probably defiling it with his presence!"

Naruto grimaced. Not the nicest way to wake up from a much needed nap, but now wasn't the time to grumble. If he waited for much longer, he'd become the former Demon Brat...

Springing up, Naruto dashed down the second path to the monument, one, that for some reason, no one ever paid attention to.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen, the current Hokage of Konohagakure sighed behind the mountain of paperwork that had appeared on his desk while he was away for some dinner. <em>'I'm sorry this always seems to happen Naruto. I really would like to celebrate one of your birthdays with you, but my obligation to the Village comes first... Even if this village is sometimes a pain in my ass.'<em>

Another glance at the pile drew a tired sigh from the old mans lips. "Best get started now..." He glanced out the window again, remiss that he had too much work to spend time with Naruto, but blissfully unaware of the villagers' annual Fox hunt that was going on.

* * *

><p>Dog was currently perched on one of the larger merchant's homes in the commercial part of the village, nose buried in a bright orange book, regardless of being in charge of watching Naruto. <em>'Kid deserves some time to spend alone. It's not like he's going to be in serious trouble or anything...'<em>

Feeling a specific Chakra signature appear behind him, Dog turned his attention away from the riveting scene between Koisha and Manotou currently lip-locked in a fiery conglomeration of...! He gave a mental cough. "Yes Cat?"

"You do realize that at, at this very moment, the villagers are hunting your charge in honor of the 6th year Kyuubi is gone?" Cat replied, in the most sickeningly sweet voice he could muster.

Dog sweat-dropped as he turned around. Rubbing his head he replied, "Uh, no." _'__SHIT! Today's the tenth, i__sn't it?'_ Feeling an almost killing stare in the back of his head he quickly stood and placed the book into his pouch. "Perhaps I should go rectify this situation..." He disappeared in a swirl of leaves, now hunting for Naruto as well, although, as his protector, and not as his tormentor.

* * *

><p><strong>9:30PM<strong>

Out of breath, and tearing down the street as fast as his legs could carry him, Naruto went over where his stealthy evasion failed. Hearing a loud bark in the distance, he cursed silently. _'Of course Mizuki would __find the ONE Inuzuka that despises my guts. I mean, I didn't even get to complete that prank on his dog. Otherwise he would have really...'_

"There he is!"

"We're gonna kill that Demon Brat this year!"

'_Oh, SH-'_ Naruto hit the ground hard as a kunai buried itself in the back of his right knee. Clutching it in pain, he tried to stand on it, only to collapse under his own weight. _'Well, this ended a LOT sooner than I thought. Should have ducked into that shop back there. Maybe I could have avoided them for enough time to catch my breath.'_ His breath hitched in his throat as Mizuki picked him up.

* * *

><p>"Ready to die Demon?" Mizuki sneered. This had almost been too easy, convincing the general populace that the Demon deserved to die tonight. He already had the backing of some shinobi – not many, but enough to get the job done. And he'd be commended as the Hero of Konoha for years to come.<p>

He yanked the kunai out of the brats leg, intent on torturing the kid before ending his miserable life. _'Too bad I'm not getting paid to do this. The village will be 10 times better off without this monstrosity!'_

The look of absolute disgust returned to Mizuki's features as he heartlessly stabbed the kunai into Naruto's arm. Crying out in pain, and almost giving in to the blackness, he clawed his way back, determined not to give him the satisfaction of killing him in a single blow.

"Still awake Demon? Surprising. But not unexpected. Perhaps THIS-" Mizuki stabbed the kunai into him again, this time into his lower back. "-will help!" Mizuki started cackling madly, egged on by the mob around him greedily watching the Brat's blood flow onto the ground.

* * *

><p>The darkness was oh so close, beckoning Naruto to the promised land of pain free existence. <em>'I'll... Stay strong... and prove that I can... be a shinobi. And one day the Hokage!'<em>

Mizuki's feature's went from disgust and anger to horror, almost becoming as white as a sheet because of the fire that seemed to become stronger in the Demon's eyes, before screaming into his ear "DIE DEMON!" and stabbed him in the chest, almost nicking his heart.

* * *

><p>This time the darkness won, swallowing Naruto whole as he heard a quiet voice cry out in panic<p>

"_**NARUTO!"**_

* * *

><p>Dog arrived at the scene to see Mizuki drop a near-lifeless Naruto on the street, and begin pumping up the crowd for the final blow – to kill his charge, and his career as an ANBU. He dropped down onto Mizuki with a kunai already drawing a line of blood from the Chuunin's throat. "You will pay for your crimes Mizuki" Dog growled out, oozing enough killer intent that the Hokage should feel it in his office.<p>

"Will I?" came the snide remark. "As far as I can tell, the Demon is dead, and I'm the Hero of Konoha!" He spat into Dog's mask, while kicking him backwards and away, the crowd cheering Mizuki on as he turned again to finish what he started.

Dog was prepared to rush Mizuki and kill him within seconds, but froze as a pulse of malevolent Chakra, far greater than anyone had felt in a long time came from the blond boy's body. The crowd stopped mid-cheer, and Mizuki's eyes widened in shock.

The second pulse blasted everyone within a few meters off their feet, and the crowd scrambled, screaming in horror that the Kyuubi was returning.

* * *

><p>The Third Hokage was just finishing his paperwork as he felt the strong killer intent from the general direction of the gate. Immediately worried, he scrambled up and out of the tower, to feel the first pulse of Chakra. Fearing the worst, he took off towards the source.<p>

When the second came, he already knew he was too late...


	2. Now the Training Begins I

**A/N:** So I think I've decided on Monday around midnight (my time) to release new chapters. And please leave a review with who you think he should be paired with (I'm open for multiple girls/harem if that's the popular vote). That being said, please R&R, and I hope you enjoy! :D

Linda Ku - Sorry, not this chapter. Soon though! Don't forget he's only 6 with no real training; A Jounin would slaughter him even if he used the Kyuubi

**Chapter 2**

Naruto stirred slightly, before groaning rather loudly – he HURT! It felt like a soreness that he had never felt before, a whole body ache and a throbbing head to top it off. 'Course, it would just be his luck to wake in some random location, if not Kami's court itself...

Deciding to figure out where he lay, since he still wasn't sure at this point, he cracked his eyes just slightly, fighting off the pain from that simple action. _'I don't see any sky at all... Or anything that I could recognise here. Where the HELL am I then?'_

He raised his hand up from where it lay at his side, intent on placing it on his throbbing head before he felt something drip onto him. Shooting upright and shouting out in pain, Naruto quickly looked around, not completely ignoring the feeling of liquid running off of him. _'What is this? Water of some kind...? But it's not wet. Or refreshing.'_

Glancing around again, he noticed that he seemed to be at some sort of dead end, with pipes running above his head, and down the hallway, as well as under the inch deep dry-water-liquid he had yet to puzzle out. Careful of his step, he moved forward, shaky at first, before finding a more sure footing on a large pipe.

After a few moments of prgressing forwards, a low booming noise, that he almost didn't notice, rumbled through the pipe-hallway. Almost 4 seconds later, it sounded again, louder with each step forwards. _'The water's rippling... Either something's coming, or something's trying to get out. Neither is good for me.'_

Moving forward a little more quickly, he rounded a sharp corner in this single-path hall, intent on finding out where he was and why he was there. Upon coming around the corner, he slipped, and gasped as he saw a massive, feral beast lunging at an equally massive gate, that seemed to be held shut with a single piece of paper.

Eyes as wde as saucers, Naruto slowly advanced forward, trying to stay behind whatever pipe he could find and stay out of the beast's field of view. Upon nearly reaching the gate though, he could make out a low, mourning voice that accompanied the beast's ramming of the gate. **"Let... Me... Out...! I need... to... help him!"** Finally being flung back from the gate, and into a heap at the back of the large room it was contained in, the beast seemed to degenerate in to quiet sobbing, at least from his point of view. Closing his eyes to ponder what all of this meant, he slowly felt sleep calling him and, after a number of minutes trying to fight it off, gave in to its sweet allure.

* * *

><p>"...TO! NA...TO! NARUTO!"<p>

"What Jiji-san? Can't you tell I'm trying to sleep here?" came Naruto's slurred reply, still not fully comprehending what was happening around him. "What's all the fuss about that you had to ruin my perfectly good nap?" Finally opening his eyes, he glanced up into the Hokage's face, to see genuine worry written on it, as well as relief. Brushing off his hands, Naruto sat up, marveling at the fact that he wasn't hurting like he did in his dream... The instant rush off memories passed before the boy's eyes, as he remembered all that had happened in that odd hallway.

"Naruto, you had us worried! Mizuki had stabbed you multiple times before..." the Hokage trails off for a moment. "Regardless, your not hurting anymore are you?"

"Nope!" he flashed a bright smile toward the old man, making him sigh in relief.

"Good! We'll be starting on your ninja training immediately then!"

"Training! Why! And who! Everyone except you and the Ichirakus hate me..." a sad look overtook the boy's feature for a moment, before his Jiji's response

"Because when you're trained, nothing like what happened tonight will ever happen again. As for who..." The old man gave a withering look towards Dog. "We'll figure out someone who would be willing to train you. Now, answer me truthfully. Was this the first time that the villagers had done anything like this?"

"No. And I doubt it will be the last, but this year was by far the worst. But please don't worry about it Ojii-san! I'm fine now! Remember?" he flashed the old man another one of his bright smiles, while the Hokage fought off the urge to smile just as brightly back.

"Indeed. If that is your wish Naruto, I'll not press charges for these cromes against the villagers. But, Mizuki is another matter. He shall be dealt with quickly. Now head back to your apartment. Dog will keep a sharp-" a death glare directed towards Dog "- lookout over you tonight, so sleep peacefully. For tomorrow, we start your becoming a ninja." Dog and the Hokage couldn't help but grin at the enourmous smile on Naruto's face as he headed home.

* * *

><p>The first thing Naruto did the next morning was roll over and yawn, which brought tears to his eyes it was so big. Second, he brought a hand to his face to wipe away the offending tears, and shield his poor eyes from the harsh sun. Third, he screamed bloody murder as he noticed that Dog was squating a few inches from his face, intently staring at him...<p>

* * *

><p>"Did you have to be so close to me when I woke up?" Naruto asked his now new sensei. He shuddered a bit as he repressed the memory yet again. "It wasn't funny at all... Just really creepy."<p>

"Well you weren't going to wake up any other way, so I saw it as the only viable option. That or..."

Naruto stopped mid step as he shuddered again and fought the urge to be sick. Only 6 and able to understand an adult's innuendo... "Ero-sensei." He voiced after he finally got his body back under his control.

"Don't call me that!"

* * *

><p>"So what are you going to teach me Ero-sensei?" Naruto asked as he sat in one of the training fields just outside Konoha proper. Sat being an arbitrary term, considering he was all but jumping up and down on Dog.<p>

"Nothing until you stop calling me that." Dog replied with a slight head tilt. Somehow Naruto could tell he was grinning.

He pouted for a moment. "Fine. Now what are you going to teach me?"

Dog paused for a moment, thinking back to how Naruto had to practically teach himself for the past few months... Damn academy teachers. "Well, do you know what Chakra is?" Getting a nod in response he continues. "Well at least you know that much. Well I need you to focus on yourself as a whole."

Naruto closed his eyes, mentally rolling them before getting the impression that someone was chuckling at him. "Stop laughing at me Ero-sensei!"

Dog's eyes widened for a second before he responded "I wasn't laughing Naruto. You must be hearing things. Now focus."

"Fine." After a few moments of quiet he spoke up again "Ok I can see my chakra, just like I'm supposed to and have been able to. Can I learn an awesome jutsu now?" reaching a near whine.

"Nope" Dog shot back, earning another pout from the blond boy.

"Why not! I wanna learn cool jutsu! Not sit here and watch my chakra flow all day!"

"Well, the secret to learning awesome jutsu is having good control. Now I want you to focus again, but this time push your chakra to your fingertips." Waiting a moment, Dog saw the boy's fingers start to light up a sky blue as the sheer amount of chakra he was pushing into them became visible. Starting to sweat that he might get chakra burns if he waited much longer, Dog spoke up yet again. "Ok. Now try pushing your chakra to your toes."

Seeing his toes light up the same way, Dog's eyes widened just slightly. _'This kid has got a ton of chakra for it to be visible like that just from _moving _it around his body. Shit! Better make him do something else now...'_ "Ok. Now I want you to make this leaf spin on your finger, only using chakra." Dog smirked slightly as he handed the blond a leaf he had picked out just in case. He'd never get this before the day was out...

* * *

><p><strong>4 Hours Later<strong>

"Why, oh, why did I make a bet with you?" Dog moaned "You have the luck of the Devil, and the intelligence of a Nara!" Dog quickly degenerated into quiet sobs with his head down on the counter.

Naruto, on the other hand, was happily slurping up his twelth bowl of ramen, on his sensei, of course, since he had won the bet.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_Naruto was struggling to get one leaf to stay on his finger, let alone begin spinning, so Dog had made him a bet. "If you can spin one leaf on each hand by the end of training, I'll buy you as must ramen as you can eat." Dog grinned to himself. There was no way the brat could get that far in his control to win..._

"So *SLURP*, what are you going to teach me *SLUUUURP* now Sensei?" Naruto patted his belly as he finally sated the beast that was his hunger.

"You're going to keep adding leaves till you can spin one on each finger simultaneously. I won't reward you again until then." Dog replied, softly banging his forehead against the counter again. He would have been going all out just to escape this nightmare, but then he'd break his mask and all sorts of trouble would start brewing then...

"Awwww... I wanna learn a cool new jutsu now!"

"Later."

"Fine." And a quick return to the pout.

* * *

><p><strong>1 Week Later<strong>

Naruto lay panting under a small clump of trees, a small pile of leaves lying next to him. He had been, unsuccesfully, working on adding leaves each day, to reach one on each finger by the end of the third day. A bit ambitious on his part, but he had finally gotten to the point where all 10 stayed over his fingers. Sure they were a bit wobbly, but he had done his best to make sure they didn't fall. Who knew that working with leaves could be so tiring?

He sat back up after about 15 minutes of rest, as he had been doing for the past week; 30 working, 15 resting, only at Dog's request of course. Otherwise he'd have been training into a coma. He glanced towards the general area he had seen Dog training in, watching him work with a clone of some kind on an awesome jutsu...

He sighed tiredly. _'Back to work then. Sooner I get this mastered, sooner I can do stuff like that!'_ Lining up the leaves on the ground so that he could use chakra to pick them all up, as he had figured out no better way to start all 10 then at once, he started once again, intent on getting all 10 to spin over each finger perfectly before the end of this 30 minute session. He had skipped lunch, ramen nonetheless to finish this training up!

He focused intently on each leaf, from left to right as they all, in turn, began to lift shaily off his fingers and spin. Getting the tenth into the air, he slowed his breathing as much as he could, clearing his mind of everything, even his massive hunger pains. Opening his eyes slowly, he found Dog standing nearby, watching intently as each leaf spun quickly and flawlessly over each finger. "YES! I finally did- shit!... Does it still count Dog-sensei? I got all ten perfectly for a few moments..." Naruto looked sheepishly up at his sensei – he had done a fist pump once he had realized that he had done it...

"Yes Naruto, we can begin on the next step, as well as my reward to you. But first, lunch!" Dog gave another one of his head-tilt-grins before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"Ero-sensei. You're going to read your porn aren't... you? Whatever. RAMEN!"

* * *

><p>?" Dog was relaxing across from the blond boy at the moment, silently enjoying the last few moments of peace he would have for the next week.<p>

"Yep! I think I have that one pretty close to done though." He made the Ram sign before a smokecloud revealed a startling likeness of Dog sitting there, complete with his favorite book.

"That's actually really good Naruto! I was expecting that I'd have to teach you all the academy basic jutsus. Do you know Bunshin no Justu and Kawarimi no Jutsu as well?" Dog was suddenly much more interested in Naruto, possibly because he would be getting some real training in the near future.

"Yeah... About Bunshin, I can't actually use it. My clones always come out messed up..." Naruto-Dog rubbed the back of his head sheepishly for a moment. "But Kawarimi isn't a problem for me."

"Go ahead and show me one of your clones then. They can't be –that– bad..."

"Ok Sensei... But no laughing, ok?" Receiving a nod, Naruto-Dog stood up and made the hand signs for Bunshin no Jutsu...

* * *

><p><strong>Some Number of Days Later – Once Naruto found Dog<strong>

"Please... Never, never, NEVER, perform Bunshin no Jutsu again" pleaded Dog, having avoided the source of his nightmares for the past few days.

"Sure. But only if you'll train me in something to replace it!" came his chipper reply. _'SCORE! I get an awesome new clone jutsu, AND get to use it for the academy. Winder which it'll be? The one he was using the other day? Maybe a water one, like Ero-jiji, Hmm...' _Naruto was broken out of his thoughts by the end of his sensei's response. Having missed it, he was slightly panicked. "Which one? I didn't hear you?"

"I said, 'I'll teach you a special clone jutsu I think you could make great use of, having the near limitless supply you seem to have.' Now, shall we go teach it to you? Oh, and what have you been doing the past few days?"

Inside, Naruto was cheering and jumping for joy at learning a special clone jutsu. Outside, he projected a calm face to reply to his sensei. "Mastering the leaf spinning. I can do all 10 now without even thinking about it!"


	3. Now the Training Begins II

**A/N: **So... I'm kinda antsy and couldn't wait till tonight to release this chapter. Kinda slow/filler/building. But, Naruto's first fight will be next chapter! And we have a time-skip coming in 2-4 chapters, depending on how my muse decides to take this. Anyways... Please R&R!

Linda Ku - Did you think I wouldn't? ;P As for your questions... Well, I can't answer them really. My muse may change things up as it sees fit (hence why I type these up each week, which is also why the chapters stay shorter - so much easier on me). At this point, I'm not planning on having Naruto in dead last, but I am planning on the rivalry still. As for Hebi-pedo, well... You'll see what happens with him later.

Alchemists19 - Ty! Each review helps me write these things (more so than you'd expect). Btw, my favorite number is 19 ^.^

The_other_11_quiet_stalkers - Review dammit! You people know who you are. . I might have a surprise for you if you do

* * *

><p>Naruto spent the next week training hard with Dog to learn this jutsu, <span>Kage Bunshin no Jutsu<span>. All Dog had told him was that it would unlock its true potential for him and him alone. _'Whatever that meant... Where'd he go this time? Damnit! I need to get a tracker on him'_

Of course, as Dog always did, he told Naruto what to do before running off to go do his own things. Probably reading his porn, like usual. Dog had also told him that he should be able to easily make 5 or more Kage Bunshin just by learning the technique properly. He didn't even give a demonstration!

So, Naruto was left to learning a Hijutsu from scratch, albeit, he had the hand seal. He was determined to show up his Sensei in the end though, seeing this as a challenge to his deductive skills. So, he had pondered what made this technique so special that he could easily use it, yet still be called a Bunshin.

In the end, he created a list of sources to investigate for information:

First, the library. This had not gone so well though, ending with him being tossed out on his ass. HARD. Still attempting to get in...

Second, the Hokage's Tower. This had yielded a few fruit, the biggest being that the Kage Bunshin were written onto a secret scroll hidden by the Hokage himself. Dead end.

Third, The ANBU headquarters and training grounds. For some reason, his mind insisted that the secret had to do with training. After all, this was most likely the same technique Dog himself had trained with. Various cases of the technique being displayed, no further on how to learn it himself.

And that had just been day one... Now a week later, he had almost gotten it down, to the point where, almost reminiscent of his Bunshin, he had a malformed solid clone laying on the ground. He had tried more chakra, but to no avail. Less hadn't worked either, but perhaps he wasn't using a small enough amount...

*POP*

"Sup, Boss!"

"YEAH! I finally did it!" Dog appeared behind him after a matter of seconds

"So you did. Good job Naruto, on learning this technique yourself. Although perhaps you could have asked someone to help? Might have wasted a bit less time. But then again, we wouldn't have discovered your potential to create techniques if you had done that. Now onto making more..." Dog trailed off at Naruto's heated glare. "Uh... Try making 5 all at once now."

"Fine _Sensei_." He formed the hand seal and focused five times the chakra he had before into the clone. A short moment and smoke cloud later, he had almost 2 dozen malformed Narutos lying around. "AH! What happened? I used a proportional amount of chakra per clone..." He quickly dismissed the clones.

"You used 5 times the chakra you had before?" _'Wow...' _"Try twice the original amount of chakra then."

Naruto focused on the amount Dog specified, hoping to see some kind of good result from it, but he honestly didn't expect 12 perfectly formed Kage Bunshin to form around him. "It worked!"

"Apparently so. Although at a disproportional rate. I also didn't expect you to make so many at this point. And now that you have this technique down, what's the secret to it?"

Naruto thought hard for a moment "They're solid clones?" _'Yah! That wasn't so hard.'_

"Although correct, it is not the answer I was looking for." Naruto's face fell at this.

"Then what is it? I want to keep training! And learn more awesome jutsu!"

"You tell me, or we're done training."

* * *

><p>Naruto sat scowling on the training field he and Dog used a majority of the time. It had been 2 days since Dog made his threat, and he was sticking to it so far. Dog was avoiding him like the plague. So for a good number of hours, he had sat in the same spot, wearing the same scowl, and occasional created a clone to examine how it might be so extraordinary that it warranted being called a Hijutsu. He still hadn't found anything of particular use.<p>

* * *

><p>4 days after Dog's threat, Naruto had resorted to making as many clones as he could, with startling results. The first being, he had been able to create over 3 dozen clones without tiring himself out and them being malformed, and second, he had a splitting headache when they all were dismissed at the same time. After riding the pain out, he decided to take a quick trip to the Hokage for some much needed help.<p>

* * *

><p>"Oy! Ero-jiji! Can I ask you a question?" Naruto yelled as he walked directly into the Hokage's office, completely ignoring the ongoing conversation between said Hokage and a few of the ANBU.<p>

"Of course Naruto. You're dismissed until later ANBU." As soon as they quickly abandoned the room, he continued "What is it that you'd come by and bother me during the normal time you and Dog would be training?"

"Well..." Naruto explained his current situation in the training, and how he needed to figure out the secret to Kage Bunshin, else he would suffer without a sensei for some period of time.

"So, you'd like my help in figuring out the secret?"

"Yes! I really want to keep training with Dog-sensei. He's been teaching me like no one has ever before!"

"Well... I can't exactly yell you what it is" Naruto's face fell slightly at this. "But. I can give you a hint. Have you ever thought about what happens when a Kage Bunshin is dismissed or destroyed?" He waited for the expected shaking head. "Perhaps you should then." As Naruto found his way out of the room, a thoughtful look on his face, the Hokage turned back towards the pile of paperwork that seemed to have doubled within the last 10 minutes. "My only true nemesis..."

* * *

><p>An hour later found Naruto laid out on the field of training ground 12, panting from the effort of creating so many <span>Kage Bunshin<span> in such a short amount of time. He had been examining the clones in every way possible while he dispersed them 1 by 1, but he had yet to puzzle out what the old man meant. The only odd thing was, every time he dispersed a clone, he'd get the odd sensation of being stared at intently, setting him on edge and breaking his concentration. Every few minutes he'd go examine the edges of the training grounds, only to find that he was indeed alone. Still. After another few minutes of rest, he picked himself back up to continue on with his seemingly impossible task to discover the truth of a Kage Bunshin.

The third clone in, he saw a bird break from some nearby trees, making its way overhead. He could have sworn that the bird had pooped on his clone, but he wasn't entirely sure from the distance he was. Of course, when the clone dispersed...

"That damn bird really did poop on the clones head! ... Wait. How would I... THAT'S IT! YEAH!" _'Now to find Dog...'_

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Naruto could swear that he heard chuckling again nearby. <em>'Damn Dog! He's hiding from me and laughing at me. Just like him to toy with me even though I completed what he wanted me to do.'<em> His thoughts turned to low mutterings about dogs and how they just aimed to screw with his life as much as possible.

Of course, as he rounded the corner, there was Dog, perched on sign and reading his porn, seemingly expecting Naruto to pass right by here. He swore he heard snickering again as his thoughts became darker at the ANBU's obvious irritation tactic. "Where the Hell have you been! I figured out the trick to Kage Bunshin! They pass their memories on to me." He had a smug look on his face as Dog obviously looked surprised that he had figured it out.

"Yes. Well... I suppose that means I'll have to continue your training now, doesn't it?" _'Damn! And I was so close to convincing Cat to take over for me...'_

* * *

><p>Back at training ground 12, Dog yawned largely, hoping that Naruto would be too tired to continue now, and possibly let him convince Cat to teach him from then on. But, as his luck usually ran involving Naruto, he had to continue on to show him <em>all<em> of the Kage Bunshin's secrets.

"So, Naruto, I need you to create 20 clones." 20 more Narutos appeared in a large smoke cloud. "Ok. Now all of you!" A hush fell on the rambunctious clones, eager for more training. "I need you all to climb these trees. With your feet."

"WHAT! You taught me this jutsu just so I could climb a tree!" the real Naruto cried out. All the clones voiced their agreement immediately after him.

"This is the next step in your chakra control exercises. Channeling chakra to your feet is one of the hardest things to do. Too much chakra and you'll fly off the tree. Too little, and you'll slide off. Now get to work!" All the Narutos set to work climbing the trees. A few even made a decent amount of progress...

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><p>Naruto found that, over a few days, his chakra control steadily improved, and each time he dispersed the group of 20 clones working on the tree climbing, the next group got that much better at it. He already could climb the tree of course. Running up it, that is. His clones had now been working on walking up it, but could only reach about half way before their concentration slipped.<p>

Now Naruto, the real one, had been set to work with Dog himself, learning the academy basic taijutsu stance, as well as a bit of physical exercise. When he had asked Dog why his clones couldn't do the workout instead of him, the only answer he got was 'The Kage Bunshin can only transfer the skill of a technique to you. They cannot transfer physical strength, mental cunning, or flexibility to you. Those you have to do yourself.'

As such, he had been hard at work running laps and performing the katas of the basic stance. It was rather simple. Simple enough that he only had to really work on getting stronger and more flexible to really use it to its full potential. Not that its potential was that much...


	4. Just a Bit of Sparring

A/N: Sorry about the long delay readers! Classes really picked up for me, and midterms weren't fun in the slightest. Now I know that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but since I was gone, I'm posting 2 chapter, back to back. Next one comes out tomorrow ^^

A few things you should know:

The pantheon of nine is changing. You'll find out about the changes when we get there ;P

I'm going to be returning to my weekly posts after this next one tomorrow.

I LIKE criticism. Please nag me about something bad. I'll most likely fix it.

Review. It keeps me going. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

Enjoy this next chapter!

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><p>3 days into this much more intense workout, Naruto found himself sitting, breathing hard, against one of the larger trees surrounding the training grounds. He had just mastered the tree climbing, which had quickly turned into water walking – he was insistent that the difficulty was rising 10 times each exercise.<p>

And much to his irritation, Dog had decided to draw some kind of seal – a weight seal – onto his wrists and ankles. Naruto had been studying it, noting its structure and style, as well as the kanji for '5' written into each one. And his limbs were still heavy.

He felt sluggish trying to go through the katas for the basic form with the weights on, but he managed after the fourth try, exhausted as he was, and crashed against this tree immediately afterwards. And what he was realizing after his clones were dispersing when they were done with their training, was that the seals had stayed on them too, making their training in water walking all that much more fun.

On top of that, Dog had told him before he left for his lunch that he would be joining the academy class tomorrow, for the taijutsu evaluation and sparring. _'Just what I want to be doing tomorrow! Not. Ugh, at least I can lea__ve my clones to keep training while I'm there, so it won't be a total loss.'_ [BR]

The morning came too quickly for Naruto, as he groggily rubbed his eyes and prepared for the day at the academy. Grumbling the whole way, with a quick, 2 minute pause for some breakfast ramen to raise his spirits, he found his way to the training ground while the sky was still dark.

Quickly forming a few dozen clones (his control had been steadily increasing the amount he could comfortably create), he set them to water walking, which all protested that the water would be freezing when they fell in. Not willing to put up with himself this early, he told them to suck it up and get going.

He then began his daily routine of jogging a few miles, a few minutes of painful stretching, then the katas of the academy taijutsu stance. He finished as the sun was reaching the top of the treeline – class time.

As he realized this, Naruto bolted across the rooftops, and barely made it to the academy as the last few stragglers stumbled through the doors. _'I agree with them. Too early for classes.'_ He quickly found his way inside, to room 104.

As he moved inside, the whole class of students turned to stare at him awkwardly, with the teacher venomously glaring. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while he moved to the only open desk in the far back corner.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," the teacher continued. "We are having our first taijutsu sparring evaluation today. Each of you will be paired up again another student to test your skills. These matches will be taijutsu ONLY. Any other techniques will merit immediate punishment. Am I clear?" A chorus of 'Yes, Sensei!"s followed quickly. "Good. Then follow me."

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><p>The teacher led the students out onto the field behind the academy, where a 10 foot radius circle of stone resided. "This is the ring. If you are knocked outside, you lose. If you are knocked out, you lose. If an instructer calls a match, we will call the winner and loser. If you continue fighting after I have called it, you lose. First up, Koryoshi Ita and Yamanaka Ino. Ready? Hajime!"<p>

The cat fight that ensued was nothing more than an embarrassment , in Naruto's eyes. The two girls weren't even really fighting, per se. Just biting, slapping, and yanking each other's hair. Ita got a good kick on Ino a few minutes in though, and won the match.

"Next up..." Naruto tuned out the teacher except for his name, and started examining the other students that would pose him any challenge. His first sweep only found one: a thin, raven-haired emo that his mere pose irked Naruto. Having decided that an emo kid couldn't POSSIBLY be his only challenge here, he looked around harder and found two more: a tattooed kid with a puppy on his head, that was watching the matches with the same disdain he was, and a red-headed girl, which was unique in and of itself, but she seemed to be watching the matches and muttering to herself. He edged closer to try and here her better...

"That could have been countered with a right kick, and that with a straight punch. And that should have been a fade to a sweep..." She continued on for another moment before that match too was called. And as the next opponents stepped up, she began again.

He was watching her in slight awe, mostly because she was the only other one that seemed to have any knowledge of the stances he knew. Maybe it was the beginnings of a crush, but he could never figure that out either.

"Next, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke!" He watched as the emo kid stepped up to oppose him. "Fighters ready? Hajime!"

The emo kid openly sneered at him, "_T__his_ is supposed to be my competition? Pathetic." He settled into a stance that Naruto couldn't recognize, but he moved into form three of the basic stances, realizing the 'Sasuke's' stance was a very aggressive attack form.

Sasuke dashed forward startled that when he reached where the blond SHOULD have been standing, there was only air. A quick glance to his left showed him in the movement for a basic sweep. Sasuke fumed at himself as he saw it coming but couldn't do anything about it and ended up sprawling onto his face.

"What the Hell was that Dobe! How did you avoid my charge?" He growled low at Naruto's flippant response.

"Simple. I turned slightly to the left and let your own movement take you down. With my help of course." He glanced out at the spectators to see the red-head he was watching earlier grinning at Sasuke's apparent rage.

He didn't see Sasuke's sucker punch though, and rage-fueled as it was, it sent him sprawling across the stone. He picked himself slowly up, glaring at the now smirking Uchiha. He settled into stance four – the aggressive stance of the academy basics.

Sasuke settled back into his opening stance, confident that he would win this now, and rushed forward once more, solidly planting his fist in Naruto's stomach. Winded, but not stopped, Naruto raised his fist and planted it right into Sasuke's cheek, snapping his head around, and they both tumbled apart once again.

All of the students that were outside had been curious about how this fight would turn out: most of the girls siding with Sasuke and most of the guys with Naruto. Now all of them had all of their attention on the match – it was dead silent except for the combatants harsh, panting breaths.

Both were glaring at the other, each rubbing their respective wounds. Mere moments later they clashed again, both landing hits on the other, but gaining no ground in the process. They pulled apart once more, both looking worse for wear this time.

Sasuke was now sporting the start of a black eye and a bleeding lip, while Naruto had a slightly unfocused look in his eyes and looked rather nauseous at the thought of continuing this fight.

Sasuke moved forward to meet Naruto's next blow head on, before twisting slightly and punching Naruto for the third time in the stomach. Moving with the blow, Naruto turned on his heel and swept Sasuke's feet out from under him, and he went down hard, his head striking the stone ring with a sickening crack.

All the fan-girls gasped at this, but Naruto paid them no heed. He turned and retched off to the side, looking like he was going to be out momentarily.

"Victor, Naruto." Came the teacher's voice from what felt like further and further away. The ground rushed up to meet him as his world went black.

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><p>Water rippled around him as he sat up inside that odd pipe and water filled hallway. <em>'Dry water. How odd...'<em> He moved forward again, this time only his steps making ripples in the 'water'. His steps were cautious as he rounded the final bend and arrived at those great gates, but there wasn't any massive beast locked behind them this time...

'_Wait... There it is! Lying down farther in the back. But what's it made of? I've never seen anything like it before other than that last time; although it looks much more calm this time around. I wonder why that is...'_

Great eyes opened after an indeterminable amount of time, and a variety of emotions passed through them: Surprise, first and foremost, quickly followed by fear, annoyance, anger, hate, and something else he couldn't figure out. **"What are you doing here?"**

Naruto was taken aback when the great beast rose up and moved forwards in the cage lying down nearly on top of the bars, and he was even more surprised when it spoke up, directly at him, while looking like it was examining him, as a great cat might an elk. "U-uh... I'm n-not su-ure really," he replied haltingly.

"**Do you know who I am, Uzumaki Naruto?"** His eyes widened in surprise once again when he heard his name come from the beast, however it was speaking.

"N-no. Wh-where am I?"

The beast gave a low chuckle. **"This is your mind Naruto. I expected you to be sharper than this, seeing as you've not only managed to defeat the probable rookie of the academy class for your year, but have also trained with Dog for weeks. Where is **_**that**_** Naruto?"**

Naruto started at the beast's knowledge of his life for the past few weeks and at how sharp he had been during that time. "How do you know so much about me? Is this really my mind? Who are you? And _what_ are you?"

The beast's gaze narrowed at him before it stood up and turned away. **"If you don't know already, then those in the outside world don't want you to know of my existence yet." **It paused for just a minute, before turning back around and flashing a very feral grin at him. **"I am Kyuubi."** Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head in shock, as he passed out with a now slightly worried fox watching him.

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><p>Review responses:<p>

Yumi-chan - Why thank you! d-(^_^)

Inyaole - It won't be a harem. At MOST one other will be joining Haku, but that's it

Linda-Ku - Thank you! And again, I'm sorry for the long delay. Back on schedule now though ^^

Honorwolf1 - :D

Loginanout - It won't be for a while before Haku shows up, but I guarantee that I'll get there

xbamsod - Yes he's going to be rather strong, but not god-like. Trained. And academy starts them young in my story (if they can afford it)

MrKillington - Yes I'm quite sure this is my first time. I get what little skill I have from how many varying fanfictions I've read (I'd put my 10000+ word count story total at around 6000 for this year alone), as I can pick up pieces of a writers style that I like or seems to work. And I just missed it (T.T)

And this chapter was HARD for me to write. I've now written it 5 different times, with each having a different opponent. So glad I'm done with it and moving on!


	5. Long Winters

A/N: You people thought I was kidding. Well I'm not! Here's chapter 5! After fight and the first portion of the time-skip. Part 2 is next time as well as the ending to Arc 0: Prologue. Please R&R and Enjoy!

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><p>Naruto awoke to several dozen of the male students hovering over him, all eager to get a peek at the only kid to put the stuck up Uchiha in his place. He lifted his head off the ground – grass to be exact. At some point they moved him – and looked around a bit better.<p>

The teachers, of course, were all over tending to the still comatose Uchiha, as well as a majority of the female students. Those that were not fretting over Sasuke were: The red-head he was watching earlier, a dark haired, cold girl, not unlike Sasuke, and one other girl he couldn't recognize right at that moment.

He groaned again as all his muscles protested movement so soon after his match, but he stretched for a few seconds, then stood up slowly, with the group around him giving him either 'congratulations on beating the teme' or 'wow you're really good for not being a student' or 'are you ok? You took quite a beating out there too.' He responded with short answers to just about everyone, and the crowd slowly dispersed, though a few hung around to keep an eye on him.

He was slowly processing the fight, of course, focusing mostly on how to improve his form. The only issue with that was, that each time he came up with the same thought: The academy basic stances were just not that great. He realized that he'd either have to convince Dog to teach him a new form – not likely – or he would have to make his own, which would require that he really amp up his training so that he could create one at his highest potential.

Uchiha-teme still wasn't up when Naruto left to finish up his daily training.

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><p>The next day, Naruto found himself at square one with his taijutsu again, and this time he didn't have Dog to help him through learning a new form. Having completed the rest of his morning ritual, and being unable to make any progress towards a new form, he began studying his weight seals again, and decided that, while the academy basic stances were useless for a fight, they would help in his strength training. So, he upped the weights to ten each, and began on his forms.<p>

Lunchtime rolled around to Dog arriving at the training ground with dango. Naruto wasn't as fond of dango as he was of ramen, but after performing his stances with an extra twenty pounds against him, he was famished. And his dispelling clones alerted him to their success of walking on the water. And standing on it. And jumping. And a variety of other activities on water that normally wouldn't be possible. Naruto leveled a glare at Dog as they were finishing lunch.

"So what compelled you to bring dango today? Hmm, _Sensei__?_"

Dog had a few sweat drops form on his brow from Naruto's implied threat hidden somewhere in that question. "Uh, I thought you'd enjoy a treat after your astounding success in the evaluation sparring."

"Right. And I was supposed to lose, right?"

Dog's posture stiffened slightly then relaxed as he gave in. "Yes. You were supposed to lose again Sasuke and make him feel the beginning of a friendship with you. I made sure it was stacked so that you two would fight each other. I just never anticipated that you would be getting progressively better as you are." Dog glanced around for a moment. "Did you modify those seals?"

"I was trying to come up with a new taijutsu form, since the academy basic form is so terrible, but couldn't make any progress on it. So I decided that working through the stances with a heavier weight would be better than doing nothing. Why?"

"Because you could have easily torn a limb off if you even so much as dripped the barest amount of ink on those seals. Let me alter them from now on."

Naruto's look of shock quickly faded as he thought about his response. "But you're never around when I need you."

Dog panicked for a moment, realizing that Naruto was indeed right. He was never around when Naruto needed him. "So how far are you on your water walking exercise?"

"Done. Clones just finished up with the extra weight included. What's next?" Naruto's grin came back as he began amping himself up for some more specialized training.

Dog muttered to himself for a moment before speaking out. "I guess it would be working on your Chakra reserves now. So, create as many functional clones as you can, and order them to perform the academy katas while tree walking."

"You want me to do WHAT?" came the outraged shout from the blond.

"Now."

Naruto sighed and created the clones. "Yes, Sensei."

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><p>2 months came and went, and Naruto had not been taught any more jutsu, only the strength and speed training of his taijutsu (he was still trying to make his own form), the Chakra reserve increases from his clone training, and the control increases of his water and tree walking exercises.<p>

He had visited the academy a few times, and been kicked out each time. NONE of the teachers liked him, so Dog decided that HE would teach Naruto everything pertinent that was taught in the academy. He also inadvertently pushed Naruto to pull more pranks on the citizens of the town.

He had also managed to get into the library, using his elite skills as an up-and-coming shinobi – not – to infiltrate and acquire books on taijutsu and seals, which he learned the hard way were called Fuinjutsu. He also worked on his calligraphy, and managed to get a mediocre approval for seal work from Dog.

The winter was also one of the harshest that Konoha had seen in quite some time, so Naruto's normal training also took on an endurance factor. Many a time, he was left on the training grounds to find his own way home and shiver his way to sleep. He had already lost the heating system to his apartments the second time his place was trashed.

Overall, life in the village was slow, cold, and filled with boredom. Which, to Naruto, meant pranks. So he was thoroughly despised by the end of the two months. Dog had promised him, though, that once winter was out, he'd have jutsu to learn and practice, but it was 'just too damn cold to work on it right now.' Ero-sensei speak for, 'I'm too lazy t teach you right now and have an excuse to get out of it. Now leave me alone so I can read my porn in peace.' [BR]

Spring rolled around to a very antsy, very eager Naruto, and one who was now dabbling into the rudimentary levels of sealing. He had upped his weight seals to twenty each, and was nearly comfortable with that weight, and was planning on raising it come Dog's training regime again.

Of course, he had learned all about a different kind of seal that would make him faster, so he had done quite a bit of research into that, but wasn't quite ready to apply it yet.

Naruto was nearly bouncing in his spot while sitting and waiting for Dog to arrive, a very difficult thing to do, and nearly pounced on him in anticipation when he Shunshin'd in. Of course, he had forgotten how Dog was in his training...

Step one: Jog till you can't stand anymore. You're out of shape.

Step two: Create as many clones as you can. I want to see your progress

Step three: Set said clones to some menial task. Water walking this time

Step four: Demonstrate taijutsu skills in a mock match. Loser buys lunch

Step five: Enjoy lunch on Naruto's tab. Dango. Just to piss him off.

Step six: Demonstrate any other abilities learned/gained/improved while slacking off during winter

Step seven: Ignore student (Read: read porn) as he studies Fuinjutsu. QUIETLY.

Step eight: Leave for dinner, demand he return at dawn next day to continue training. The slacker.

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><p>The second day was much calmer than the first though, with Dog actually bringing a scroll of jutsu to the grounds. He tossed the scroll at Naruto, who unrolled it to find two semi-useful jutsu written onto it: Shunshin and Kage Kunai. He set to work on each of them immediately. Dog vanished into his usual tree, orange book in hand.<p>

Naruto took a look at the first one, and the technical definition for it, and his head started spinning. He'd come back to that one. He looked through the other and realized how similar Kage Kunai was to Kage Bunshin, but easier, in a sense. It would take less energy and focus to create a solid, non-moving object as compared to a solid, moving one.

He focused on a kunai as he threw it, and performed his typical Kage Bunshin, but instead of focusing on creating himself, he tried to create more kunai. He heard Dog yelp from down at the end of the training grounds, and opened his eyes to see many dozen kunai coating the trees at the far end. And a single Dog becoming a contortionist among them. He chuckled as he set about cleaning them all up. Namely finding the real one and dispelling the others. [BR]

Thoughts of Kyuubi had passed through his mind during the long winter months, and he had even contemplated trying to contact it, however that would be accomplished. He had, of course, decided against that, but he could still feel the phantom voice of Kyuubi when was getting angry or rather emotional. He had mellowed considerably with the winter. He didn't like the thought of the most powerful demon being inside of him.

He kept quiet about the Fox, fearing the worst if someone else knew his secret. Every night though, he dreamed of talking with the Fox, but they were just that, dreams. They never stayed long in his memories after he woke up.

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><p>Review Resonses:<p>

Tymes24 (or whatever your name is supposed to be) - Thanks! Even just simple review lilke this make me want to continue writing this story!

Dial-A-Cow - :D Glad you're liking it so far! Hope you stick around. As for Dog's training methods... Well... That's just him being a lazy pervert. Like in part 2 :P As for the fight scene, that was my biggest worry. With Naruto being an anime largely based on action, screwing up the fight scenes can be lethal to a fanfiction. Glad it turned out to your liking! Expect more fights that are a challenge to both opponents in the future. And, to be honest, that scene was originally written with Sasuke winning the fight and Naruto getting him back with a prank. but with the addition of someone else (meta-foreshadowing dooth be present), I had to change it.


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